Mr. William V. Cress, 92, passed away at home in the early hours of Friday, Oct. 17, 2014.

William Vincent Cress was born Nov. 11, 1921, the son of William and Mary (Fink) Cress. Bill was a graduate of Rose Creek High School. He lived the majority of his entire life on the family farm. On Aug. 28, 1948, he married Mary Jane Becker in Caledonia, Minnesota. In addition to farming, he also worked as a bus driver and carpenter. Mr. Cress was a life-long member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church. He enjoyed playing sports in his youth, then as a spectator in later years, with Minnesota Twins baseball, Minnesota Lynx and Gophers basketball being among his favorite teams to watch. In May of 2014, Bill and Mary Jane moved off the farm into an apartment in Primrose Retirement Community in Austin, Minnesota.

Bill is survived by Mary Jane, his wife of 66 years; three sons: David (Jan), Paul (Candy), Leo (Alexis) all of Bloomington, Minnesota; four daughters: Rosemary (Ron) Danielson of Bigfork, Nancy (Norb) Kelly of Lanesboro, Catherine (Wayne) Miller of Rochester, and Karen (Dan) Noterman of Adams; many loving grandchildren, great grandchildren; one sister, Carol (George) Battey of Rochester; brothers-in-law Vernon Graff of Austin, Paul Ginder of Madison Lake; and many nieces and nephews.

Because Bill donated his body to the Mayo Clinic for medical research, burial will take place in Rose Creek at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to St. Peter’s Church. Mass of farewell will be held at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Rose Creek on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, with a luncheon and fellowship following to celebrate the life of William V. Cress.